


Complicated

by CRene



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: F/M, Tumblr: BFFP (Chicago Fire)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:49:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27714320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CRene/pseuds/CRene
Summary: A complicated Thanksgiving for Brett and Casey.
Relationships: Stella Kidd/Kelly Severide, Sylvie Brett/Matthew Casey
Comments: 14
Kudos: 91





	1. Cancellation

**Author's Note:**

> *Notes* Okay, I had to write something after 9x02, so this is my first take on what I would like to happen. This will also include the #BFFP for November, even though, we do not get a new episode until January. 
> 
> By the way, I have been reading all of your fics, but I have not been leaving feedback just kudos. I usually leave feedback, but my days and nights are backward right now. Just know I have been loving everyone's attempt at fixing our favorite couple.

It had been three days. Three days since the moment Brett had her heartbroken from the one man she thought could never break it. She had gotten through it knowing she would be gone in a couple of days to Fowlerton for Thanksgiving. She needed the break; needed to get away from the Chicago and the vicinity of a certain Captain. Brett was sitting in the day room poking at her lunch when her cell phone vibrated at her waist. Looking at her phone she realized it was her mom. It wasn’t often her mom called during shift.

“Hi mom,” Brett answered as she pushed the chair back and walked into the bunk room. It was quieter there and she wasn’t really hungry anyway. 

“Sylvie, I know you were looking forward to coming for Thanksgiving, but we just found out that the McRiley’s have been diagnosed with Covid. We played Rummy with them the other day; so we have to be quarantined for the next fourteen days. We can’t have Thanksgiving,” Martha Brett told her daughter. 

“I can’t believe it, mom. Is everyone okay? Do you have any symptoms? How is dad,” Brett questioned, suddenly worried about her parents and the neighbors. 

“We don’t have any symptoms, but I know you were looking forward to the trip home,” Martha responded with a slight sorrow in her voice.

Brett turned around towards Casey’s office and sighed. She knew it was too easy to just run away from her problems. Her parents’ health was more important than her heartache. 

“I’ll be fine, mom. Maybe I’ll do something here for some of us that can’t be with our families,” Brett implied putting a piece of hair behind her ear.

The alarm went off for a car accident. 

“Mom, I have to go. I will call you soon. Let me know if you have any symptoms or if there is anything I can do,” Brett stated as she stood up from her cot.

“I will and once again, I’m sorry sweetie,” Martha announced before Brett disconnected the call.

Brett jumped into the driver’s seat of the new Ambo 61 and drove off. Her mind wasn’t focused on the conversation with her mother or her heartache over Casey. It was focused on the job.

When they pulled up to the car accident, one of the cars was hanging on a bridge like the one she had crashed off over a week ago. There was a child around five years old in the back seat who was screaming. The sedan was teetering on the edge of the guardrail with the mother inside unconscious. 

Kidd and Gallo worked on securing the sedan while Casey secured a rope to the truck to reach the mother. 

“Be careful, Casey,” Brett whispered as she watched him try to reach the mother in the front seat. 

She may have been upset with him, but she never wanted to see him hurt. She knew what it felt like to hurt; she had felt it after the adrenaline wore off from the accident the other day. Her body had ached for a few hours after the accident; it wasn’t until Casey left that she let the past few days catch up to her. She had sat on that couch for hours crying, not just from the accident, but from taking a chance and hearing the truth. He was still in love with Gabby. Now she watched him try to save another woman from a terrible accident where her life hung in the balance.

Within minutes, Mouch had the child out of the back seat, and Casey had grabbed the woman out of the vehicle just seconds before the sedan slipped and crashed down the embankment.

Mackey and Brett carried the stretcher over to Casey. He put the woman onto the stretcher as Brett looked up at the scratch on Casey’s cheek.

“Are you okay,” Brett asked in a neutral tone, reaching her hand up to his cut.

“Are you,” Casey retorted putting his hand on her elbow. “Can we talk later?”

“Maybe,” she answered as she tensed up at his touch. She never thought she would tense up at his touch, but after what happened the other night she couldn’t help it. She felt apprehensive at even being near him these days.

Back at the firehouse, Brett kept herself busy and stayed away from Casey. She didn’t want to talk about his feelings for Gabby; it was one reason she fought her attraction to Casey for so long. She had witnessed Casey and Gabby’s relationship from them getting engaged to married, having Louie, and then losing him. Brett had been there for all of it and witnessed it. She wanted that type of relationship all her life; and even Gabby had told her that she could find a man like Casey one day. Who knew that she would end up falling in love with Casey?

She needed to get out of the funk she had been in the past couple of days. Before, she would have gone to Casey and flirted, talked it out, and laughed about a few things. Yet, Casey was the reason she was feeling down. With Thanksgiving canceled at her parent’s house, she needed something to be thankful for, and to spend the holiday alone was not the answer.

After doing inventory on the ambo; she searched for Kidd with an idea. She was on a mission to spend the holiday with her other family if she couldn’t be with the family she had grown up with. Brett had found Kidd in the common room looking through a magazine. 

“Stella, what are you and Severide doing for Thanksgiving,” Brett asked as she sat down next to her best friend.

“Nothing, but ordering pizza or Chinese and watching football,” Kidd answered, looking over at her best friend. “Why? I thought you were going to Fowlerton?”

“My parents had to cancel, they have to be quarantined and canceled it,” Brett replied with a smile. “So I thought, maybe we could do a little Thanksgiving feast at my place.”

“Good luck finding the food,” Hermann interrupted, as he looked over to the girls from the head of the table. “Cindy said the store is running out of everything especially the smaller turkeys. Luckily with all the kids, we end up getting a 20 lb one every year.”

“Thanks for the head’s up, Hermann,” Brett replied before looking over at Kidd. “What do you think? Thanksgiving at my place with what I can find at the grocery store.”

“You know a certain Captain isn’t going to his sister’s this year,” Kidd whispered as she leaned closer to Brett, tilting her head to the side and smiling. “I know you haven’t talked about it, but I know for a fact he went to your place the other night and didn’t come home for hours.

Brett looked bewildered by that since he had not spent five minutes at her place before she asked him to leave. Where could he have gone to after her place?

“Let’s see how the next couple of days play out,” Brett answered, not wanting to let Kidd know. 

Brett didn’t have the nerve to tell Kidd or anyone what had happened after she had admitted her feelings to Casey. She had been right all along; she was going to get her heartbroken. She had finally taken Kidd’s advice and it backfired. She couldn’t tell her best friend that the reason she was hesitant to start a relationship with Casey had been real. Brett was not the type of person to say ‘I told you so’. So she kept the pain to herself, and drank two bottles of wine that night and cried herself to sleep.

Now she realized, maybe that had been a mistake. If Kidd kept asking her about Casey or what happened then she wasn’t going to lie. But her heartache was her darn fault and she wanted to keep it that way.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Notes** I know it has been well over a month since I updated this. I did put it on the back burner for a few weeks while I was working on some other things. We were waiting so long for a new episode and did not get it; so I am updating it faster because we need some cheering up.**

***

Here it was Thanksgiving 2020, a year that could be called unique, dreadful, unpredictable, and stressful. Sylvie had many things to be grateful for, but this year had made it more difficult to be her cheerful self. She had found her birth-mother, lost her birth-mother, gained a half-sister, lost her half-sister, gained another best friend in Matt, and lost him in the same night. Yes, this year was one that Sylvie wanted to forget. 

She tied her red checkered apron around her waist as she checked the oven with the turkey in it. It was a very large turkey and she knew that it was way too big for just three people. There would be leftover turkey dinners for the next week. At least she knew a few dishes she could make with the leftover turkey meat. She had two homemade pies on the counter cooling, her dad’s homemade stuffing with sausage, plus mashed potatoes and gravy. She had been busy since yesterday afternoon when she had gotten home from the grocery store with all the fixings to feed an army. 

It had given her something to do and keep her mind off her broken heart. She stayed out of the living room especially the infamous couch, she had made-out with Casey on. Anything to keep her mind off of the blond hair Captain was what she needed this holiday season. 

A knock at her door made her stop thinking of Casey. She knew it had to be Stella and Severide. She checked everything on the stove once again then walked to the front door with a smile across her face. She was ready to be a third-wheel today, ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with one of her best friends and her boyfriend. 

“Right on time,” Sylvie answered as she opened the door. There stood Stella Kidd with her long black hair flowing down around her shoulders, and her boyfriend and Lieutenant Kelly Severide. “I’m so glad you guys could come. I have enough food to feed an army.”

Stella returned the smile along with Severide. He had a bottle of wine in his hand and handed it to Sylvie. 

“This is for you to say thank you for inviting us over,” Severide stated, and then he looked over to Stella who held the six-pack of beer. “That is for the game.”

“Oh and Casey bought something for you, too,” Kidd replied as she pointed over to the man around the corner that Sylvie couldn’t see.  
Sylvie’s smile fell as she looked around the corner to see Captain Matt Casey standing there with a large silver bowl covered with plastic wrap with Christmas decorations around here.

“Come on in,” Sylvie said, moving aside the doorway to let in her guests. As Severide and Stella walked in, Casey followed them.

“Kidd invited me. I didn’t tell Severide what happened and I am expecting that you didn’t tell Kidd either. If you want me to leave, I will,” Casey declared.

“I made plenty of food,” Sylvie sighed. “And I can’t let you spend Thanksgiving alone.”

The two of them stood in the doorway while Kidd and Severide made their way into her apartment. 

“I called Scott to ask what Julie’s favorite Thanksgiving dish was and he told me fruit salad. It was something her mother used to make on Thanksgiving. So I got the ingredients and made it,” Casey explained as he handed the bowl. “Are you sure, it’s okay? I don’t want to make this any more uncomfortable for you.”

“We are still colleagues, Matt,” Sylvie responded as she looked down at the floor. They had a lot to talk about, but this wasn’t the time nor the place for that discussion.

“I am hoping we are more than just colleagues,” he said putting his hand over her’s that was holding the bowl. “I would hope we are still friends even if we can’t move forward with what this thing is between us.”

“I can’t believe you called Scott to find out Julie’s favorite recipe,” she replied as she turned around to enter her apartment. “It looks so good, what’s in it?”

“Cut up pieces of apples, pineapple, bananas, grapes with walnuts, sliced coconut, mini-marshmallows, and whip cream, and a touch of pineapple juice to preserve the bananas longer. He said it’s more of a sweet side since Julie had a sweet tooth since she was young,” Matt explained, following her.

“Now I know where I get it from,” Sylvie mumbled. 

Severide was already sitting on the couch with the football game on while Kidd was in the kitchen standing over the stove. 

“Is there anything you need help on,” Kidd asked as Sylvie entered the kitchen. “You outdid yourself, girl.”

“I knew if this was going to be our first Friendsgiving together, I thought I better make it big,” Sylvie explained as she put the bowl into the refrigerator.   
She knew Station 51 was her family, but she couldn’t think of another way to put spending Thanksgiving with her closest friends instead of her actual family. 

“I don’t know about you, but I would rather spend Thanksgiving with you three, than my actual family,” Stella informed Sylvie. “Not that I would know where to find my real family these days.”

“I know what you mean,” Matt replied, “I haven’t talked to my mom in years and Christie is spending the holiday with her new boyfriend and Violet.”

Sylvie tensed up a bit since she rarely heard Matt talk about his family especially his mother. She knew Matt’s sister lived somewhere in Chicago with her daughter, but not exactly what area. Sylvie had a new extended family since Julie had come into her life, but all she knew of Julie’s family was Scott and Amelia. And of course, there was Severide’s family with his mom back in Wisconsin and his half-sister in Colorado. 

“Case, the Lions just scored a touchdown,” Severide interrupted the family discussion, “Their defense is doing a pretty good job of keeping the Texan’s at bay.”

“The Lions have been known to blow it by the fourth quarter,” Sylvie responded, turning around to look at Severide. 

All three of Sylvie’s guests looked at her strangely. She hadn’t mentioned knowing many details about the NFL especially the Detroit Lions. They looked at her that it was strange to know NFL information.

“I grew up in a small town in Indiana. My brother is a big fan of the Lions even though my dad is a Colts fan. The Thanksgiving game was a big thing at my house growing up,” Sylvie explained, looking at her Stella. “If you recall I was at the tailgating last year when Casey rescued that guy that collapsed from the flesh-eating disease that ripped across Chicago.”

“I know you were,” Casey replied, “but I didn’t think you followed the Lions so much.”

“I’m sure there are some Lions fans in Chicago,” Sylvie retorted as Severide tilted his head and stared at her intently.

“Maybe one or two,” Severide cleared up. “But it’s not like they would admit it.”

“Watch your game, while we finish dinner,” Stella told her man.

A few minutes later Severide and Matt were sitting in the living room watching the game. Before Matt sat down he stood by the chair and the couch and looked over at the couch. He had suddenly gone back to that night where he had made out with Sylvie. He had figured that Sylvie also had difficulties being on the couch. So he moved over to the chair instead.

Sylvie had watched Matt take a minute before sitting in the chair in the living room. She took a breath then turned back to the kitchen. Stella stood over by the refrigerator and opened the rose that she had bought with her. She had noticed the strange vibe between Matt and Sylvie.

“So what’s going on between you and Casey,” Stella wondered as she grabbed two wine glasses from the cupboard.

“What do you mean,” Sylvie asked as she cooked up a few pieces of bacon on the stove. 

“Well, when I asked him to come with us last night, he said it was better if he didn’t. Why would he say that? He had come over here last week and came home soon later in a solemn mood. Ever since then, the two of you have been avoiding each other,” Stella explained as she sipped on her wine. 

“I don’t really want to talk about it, right now,” she replied in a hushed tone. 

“Something did happen,” Stella replied with a shocked look across her face.

“Yeah, I kissed him, he kissed me back, then I stopped it from going any further,” Sylvie answered as she flipped the bacon over a few times. “I don’t want it to ruin dinner, so, please, Stella, can we not get into it.”

“Fine, but this isn’t over. I hope you know he is completely in love with you. He made a few phone calls last night then went to the store around nine last night and was up until three this morning making that salad. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”

“I know I can’t believe he found out what Julie’s favorite dish was on Thanksgiving,” Sylvie replied with a smile. 

“Oh, that’s not all. He even set up a time for the two of you to go up and visit Amelia in the next couple of weeks on your next weekend off. But you didn’t hear that from me,” Stella informed Sylvie, finishing her drink. 

“What about the pandemic? We can’t just go up to Rockford for a weekend.”

“He told Scott that the two of you will get tested before you go, so neither of you would get Amelia sick.”

Sylvie stood there flabbergasted at what she was hearing. Why would Matt go to so much trouble? I mean he knew she missed Amelia and the last time she had seen her sister was early summer. Amelia had grown so much by then since Scott and her kept video chatting every couple of weeks. Her heart felt broken enough and nowhere was Matt doing something she had wanted to do for weeks. He knew how much she had missed her sister, especially with Amelia’s first Christmas just around the corner.

“He is planning on talking to you about it after dinner,” Stella told her as she crossed her arms over her chest. “He even told Severide that he plans on moving out of the loft in the next couple of months.”

“What,” Sylvie questioned as she turned off the stove and grabbed the pan from the stove without an oven mitt. 

“Brett,” Stella shouted as Sylvie immediately dropped the pan of bacon back onto the stove. 

“Oww,” Sylvie screamed in pain. “I can’t believe I did that.”

Both men ran into the kitchen instantaneously as Sylvie turned the faucet on and ran her hand through lukewarm water.

“What happened,” Matt questioned as he moved across the kitchen to Sylvie. 

“I wasn’t paying attention and grabbed the bacon off the burner without thinking,” she answered as she kept moving her left hand across the running water. “Stella, I have some aloe vera in the medicine cabinet. Can you get it for me, please?”

“Sure,” Stella said as she grabbed the side of Severide’s shirt pulling him with her.

Matt and Sylvie were suddenly alone in the kitchen. He reached out to her hand to see the damage on her hand. His rough fingers ran across her hand and she shivered from his touch. 

“Are you okay,” he muttered as he stood just centimeters from her. They had not been this close since that night. 

“Yeah, just not paying attention,” Sylvie mentioned trying not to respond to Matt’s touch. She could feel her body heating up and the goosebumps began to form. She was sweating and not from the heat in the kitchen. 

Matt grabbed a towel from one of the drawers and wrapped it around her hand. He led her to the kitchen table and had her sit down. 

“What do you have left to do,” Matt asked as he knelt down in front of her.

“It’s just a burnt hand, I can finish it,” Sylvie replied as she tried to stand up. 

“No, you did enough,” Stella said as she put her hand on her best friend’s shoulder. “Let Casey and I finish the rest of this.”

“Fine,” she pouted as she grabbed the aloe vera from Severide.

She stood up and walked back into the bathroom. Matt followed her, so he could help her.

“Matt, I can do this,” Sylvie said as she unwrapped her hand. “Crumble up the bacon and stir it into the mashed potatoes.”

“Bacon?”

“Of course, everything's better with bacon, even Thanksgiving dinner,” Sylvie stated. “My dad started doing it over twenty years ago.”

“Okay, what else?”

“Check the turkey and have Stella set the table, please,” Sylvie requested as she started putting the aloe vera on her hand.

“Okay, I’ll let you finish up,” Matt said as he left her. He wanted to touch her, to make her feel better especially after what he had told her the other day. 

Fifteen minutes later, Sylvie exited the bathroom and the table was already set and the turkey was out of the oven. 

“Give us five minutes and everything should be finished,” Matt told Sylvie as he put the bowl of mashed potatoes on the table.

“Kelly, you might want to turn the television off,” Stella requested as she stood in the doorway to the living room.

“Are you kidding, the game is tied,” Severide responded as he looked over at his girlfriend in shock. 

“Do I have to tell them about what you watch on Monday’s with me,” Stella warned her significant other?

“We all know he watches The Bachelor with you,” Sylvie replied sitting down in the chair at the table. “You can keep it on, though, but you have to eat at the table. That is a rule of Thanksgiving at my house.”

“Fine, I’ll turn it off. It’s not like I have money on the game,” Severide stated as he turned the game off and walked towards the kitchen. 

A couple of minutes later all four of them sat at the kitchen table with the large turkey and all the fixings surrounding it. Matt had the knives ready to carve the turkey.

“Before we carve the turkey, each of us has to say what we are thankful for this past year,” Sylvie stated with Matt next to her and Stella on the other side.

“That’s easy,” Matt said as he put the knives down. “I’m thankful for you. You have been one of the brightest things in my life the past couple of years. You give all of us at 51 something to be thankful for, the way you give everyone a second chance. You bring so much sunshine to 51 and my life. I am hoping you give me a second chance after my screw-up the other night.”

Severide and Stella looked at each other and both of them just shrugged their shoulders. Something had happened between Matt and Sylvie, but neither of them was talking about it. After dinner, Stella thought she would take Severide home and leave Matt here, so the two of them could hash out alone. 

“You don’t have to ask for a second chance, Matt. Our friendship means the world to me, and I’m not going to let my overzealous nature ruin that,” Sylvie explained as Matt reached over and took her hand. “I’m thankful for the three of you and the way you have stood by me this year. To my family at fifty-one.”

After Severide said he was thankful to Stella making him the man she deserved and Stella thanked her job and the ability to keep going on “Girls On Fire” the four of them dug into the wonderful meal. Matt had carved the turkey for the four friends and each of them sighed how delicious Sylvie had done. 

Forty-five minutes later they were full of the juicy, hearty meal they had devoured. None of them had room for pies, so they started to clean up.

“Kelly and I will clean up since the two of you did the hard work,” Stella said as she began clearing the plates off the table.

“We will,” Kelly sighed, “I figured we would head back to the loft.”

“Don’t worry about it, Stella. I can clean this up,” Sylvie replied as she put some of the turkey in a freezer bag. 

“Not alone,” Matt responded. “I’ll stay and help. Your hand should stay dry.”

He wanted to talk to her about the plans he had made. He also had a point about Sylvie keeping her hand dry. About fifteen minutes later, Severide and Stella were putting their jackets on and Sylvie had bagged up some of the leftovers for them plus one of her homemade pies.

“Thank you for the wonderful dinner,” Stella whispered, hugging her best friend. “And whatever Casey did, give him another chance.”

“Thank you for coming and I am trying,” she responded. “Hope you enjoy the caramel apple pie.”

“I can’t believe you are giving us an entire pie,” Stella said as she pulled back with a smile. 

After a couple of minutes of goodbyes and thank-you’s, Sylvie closed the door and leaned up against the door. Matt stood up against the doorway leading to the living room. The two of them were left alone with so much to say between them, yet neither of them would start the conversation. They stood several feet apart just looking at one another. Matt smiled at her with that charming smile of his that would make her melt. 

“How about we clean up the kitchen, then we can talk,” Sylvie commented as she began to walk towards him.

He had so much to say, yet all he wanted to do is kiss her. As she walked by him, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms. If he couldn’t kiss her at least he needed to feel her in his arms. He wrapped his arms around her and just held her close. After that night, he just wanted to feel her close again. He had done a lot of thinking since she asked him to leave after he admitted he didn’t know what he would do if Gabby came back to Chicago. Now he had plenty of time to figure things out, he knew what he needed to say, but expressing his feelings in words was never easy for him. He was a man of action. Yet Sylvie needed the words, she deserved the words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **So the fruit salad was a tradition in my family. My mother made it for us every Thanksgiving since I was around 10 years old and we would spend the morning helping her cut up the fruit while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. My mom passed away fifteen years ago, but my sister and I still keep the tradition of making fruit salad. Now our daughters cut up the fruit while we watch the parade. It is one of my favorite dishes and now my daughters' favorite. **


End file.
